1. The delta between outsider perception of our bball program vs the “hardcore” fans must be as big as I’ve ever seen over my 20+ years of fandom for any sport. I don’t really know what that means, but it’s fascinating. I don’t think any outsider “expert” or even casual Illini fan thinks there are any major issues.
I've been around the Illini internet for a long time now, I've seen a lot of message board insiders come and go.Folks are hooked up to the unfiltered "insider" information on here and it's messing with people's fandom in ways that are a general negative for the majority of posters.
So which way is it trending now?.
Is Kansas playing 4d chess and having UI over pay for Dix?Unlikely that Kansas actually offered Josh Dix $2m, btw.
armchairillini.com
The Brad/Tyler issue has nothing to do with Tyler being a good or bad coach. I’d argue that the team has regressed 2 of the past 3 years and red flags are popping up, but let’s leave that aside.Folks are hooked up to the unfiltered "insider" information on here and it's messing with people's fandom in ways that are a general negative for the majority of posters.
People are buying into various forms of confirmation bias that they've lost perspective. For example, imagine explaining to, say, a Oklahoma fan, that Illinois fans are losing their minds because Brad Underwood has his son on staff, he's in charge of the offense, and it's been a really poor experience. That Oklahoma fan could look up when Tyler Underwood started (summer 2023) and see that Illinois' offensive has been ranked on KenPom as the 3rd and 14th best offensive efficiency units in back-to-back years. Now, I'm sure folks around here would have specific situations or nuance they would want to interject to provide a different perspective to that performance, but an Oklahoma fan (or say, an Iowa football fan wink wink) would KILL to have a nepotism problem like that.
I'm content to read comings-and-goings on this board for Illini basketball, and they absolutely deserve to speak their mind like all of us, but I do think a good chunk of you are taking too many big emotional swings based on "insider" perspectives shared on here. Being the head basketball coach at Illinois means lots of political difficulties from trying to balance the priorities of many competing parties. These political challenges have always existed, it's just some of you are getting exposed to them in a way that you were not before.
And just to add onto that, give me the Houston model. Felt like we tried to mimic them for a bit after they beat us in the tourney, but now we are all in on offense. Dix, Sanfort, Ben would get killed against Houston.Still pretty ambivalent about Sanfort and Dix. Fran was, putting it lightly, mercurial but I do think he’s a really good offensive coach. But how many second weekends did he make? How many conference titles did he win?
You could write in permanent marker Fran’s teams would be good for 80+ in a tourney game but as soon as they ran into a decent team they’d give up 95. And that was with better players than Dix or Sanfort.
Do we need to improve our shooting? Sure. But for years Brad has preached he wants to be able to win when the ball isn’t going in. You do that with defense, rebounding and toughness, none of which Dix or Sanfort has. If their ball isn’t going down they aren’t bringing anything else to the table.
Just think we can land better all around players with our resources. Iowa didn’t have the deepest of pockets for Fran. We’ve got way more resources to offer.
Just saw Bos out this afternoon. Had his hood on going incognito!So the good news is late night McD's with chicks should mean Bos is staying![]()
I too don’t understand the Dix love, or the price. We need to get tougher and more athletic before we can afford the luxury of a spot up shooter.And just to add onto that, give me the Houston model. Felt like we tried to mimic them for a bit after they beat us in the tourney, but now we are all in on offense. Dix, Sanfort, Ben would get killed against Houston.
Just had a tornado warning in Champaign Sirens went off.Yeah. Rumors that Illinois might be in the lead after his visit. But it's all about the close. How tight are Dix and Sandfort, who's visiting today?
2day is Dix's visit.Yeah. Rumors that Illinois might be in the lead after his visit. But it's all about the close. How tight are Dix and Sandfort, who's visiting today?
I think the misconception is the fact that Dix is not just a spot up shooterI too don’t understand the Dix love, or the price. We need to get tougher and more athletic before we can afford the luxury of a spot up shooter.
Advice I received years ago was to never give anything but courteous answers, especially when you are moving to a competitor. Don't burn bridges, but no obligation to help.False statement. This is coming from a guy who does them at my company.
I think it depends on the culture of the company. Companies that want to grow and improve will take the constructive criticism. Those that don't either won't bother or will rush the processFalse statement. This is coming from a guy who does them at my company.
Maybe it's a sign they have him on the tisdale diet alreadySpare no expense! If Dix wants to supersize his meal, you supersize his meal!
Oh how does he have 2 years left? He’s played 3 at Iowa already.2 years of eligibility left for Dix. so something to perhaps build on multi-year (yes, i know its portal era, but if things go well there's always a good likelihood for year two)
This is the big turnoff for me. If we're going to pay 2 million in NIL for a player, I want it to be a player who won't give up the points he scores on the other end of the court. And in the B1G, it doesn't matter how good the other players we have are at locking down. Screens force switches, so at some point, Dix would be forced to guard an impact player with too much athleticism for him to handle.He’s not good defensively so you want to surround him with guys like Kylan, Ty, Sarr that can guard the other teams best player - but he will be a large value add to any offense